Hospital care for the elderly has been branded inadequate, overcrowded and old fashioned in a hard-hitting report by a patients' watchdog.

Brighton, Hove and Lewes Community Health Council found problems on six acute wards at Brighton General Hospital were so "numerous and serious" they made it impossible for nurses to offer proper standards of care and dignity.

CHC volunteers talked to many patients and relatives to compile the report, which makes 23 general recommendations for improvements.

Volunteers found a worrying overall picture of the efforts of staff to offer a high standard of care being undermined by "totally unsuitable" wards and poorly maintained equipment.

The report also highlighted "serious deficiencies" in patient care, notably in bathing and an absence of social interaction.

CHC volunteers found outdated, mixed-sexed wards with inadequate bathing and toilet areas which allowed little privacy. They said some staff seemed "desensitised" to the impact of limited privacy.

Day rooms were unusable or unused. There was no hospital television or radio service, no ward trolley service and no library provisions.

The CHC also felt there were not enough occupational therapists or physiotherapists.

Overall there was a feeling the hospital, which will gradually be sold off and closed during the next decade, was being run down before that process was completed, with staff morale and patient care suffering as a result.

CHC chief officer Mike Collinson said: "We are extremely concerned good nursing care at Brighton General is in danger of being nullified by the failure of managers to take strong, positive action. Little is planned in terms of remedies and there is still not a date for the planned closure."

Some buildings at Brighton General date back to Victorian times. NHS managers have been looking at ways to move its services to the town's Royal Sussex County Hospital as part of a review of medical care.

Brighton Health Care NHS Trust, which manages the wards, denied they were being run down until services were moved. It said more than £50,00 had recently been spent on decoration, and between now and next spring more than £110,000 would be invested in improving bathroom areas and phasing out mixed-sex wards.

The worst parts of the hospital have been demolished and patients moved to more appropriate care.

Trust chairman Professor Michael Whiting said: "We are not complacent and recognise more can be done to improve life for the older people in our care.

"Over the coming years we will continue to invest in Brighton General until we are able to provide more modern facilities on the county site."